


And I'd marry you, Harry

by harrystylesandstuff



Series: The frozen yogurt series [4]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angry Harry, Bath Sex, Blow Jobs, Bottom Harry, Children, Cute Ending, Cute Harry, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Facials, Fate, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Forgiveness, Hair-pulling, Happy Ending, Jealous Harry, Jealous Louis, Larry Stylinson Is Real, Long Hair, Long-Term Relationship(s), M/M, Marriage Proposal, Riding, Smut, Top Louis, but it's more than sex so, it's all good basically, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 17:39:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4188891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harrystylesandstuff/pseuds/harrystylesandstuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis and Harry have been living together for over a year now and have to face the struggles of having a new job, keeping the right people in their lives, and thinking about the future...</p><p>This is the fourth and extra part of the Frozen Yogurt fic, using Harry's POV !</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I'd marry you, Harry

**Author's Note:**

> After reading your comments and being too attached to these characters, I've decided to write this part, entirely on Harry's POV this time :)
> 
> I'll probably edit because my eyes are too tired to proof read it another ten times haha
> 
> Please tell me what you think or give kudos if you like it !
> 
> Enjoy <3
> 
> Mel
> 
> x

“So ? Do you like it ?”

 

If there was one thing Harry thought he would never get Louis to do, it was relaxing with him in bath bombs.

 

He had been begging him the day Louis eyed the full and glittery basket next to the sink. He would catch him stare at the ‘Sex Bomb’ - obviously not knowing the nature of the purple pink ball - and smirk at the thought.

 

Tonight though, Harry finally came up with the best way to convince him to try it. Some people might say asking for a favour while you’re sucking them off when they’re on the phone is unfair, but who cares when it involves an aphrodisiac milky pink bath ?

 

“It’s…nice.” Louis frowns but looks like an angry kitten, and Harry can’t help kissing his exposed knee in front of him. “C’mere.”

 

Louis opens his arms and legs, allowing Harry to nuzzle himself into his chest, head resting on his shoulder. This might have been a peaceful, relaxing normal bath…if it wasn’t for Louis’ dick against Harry’s lower back.

 

As if he’s reading his mind, Louis leans down to kiss Harry’s neck and walks his hands all over his torso, letting the sound of the water and his tongue echo in the bathroom. When he slips his hand down to caress Harry’s thighs, the latter turns his head and kisses him properly, enjoying the fluid movement of their very wet lips.

 

Harry’s almost sure Louis purrs when he takes his face entirely in one hand to deepen the kiss, feeling Louis’ hand slides between his legs. He breathes heavily in his mouth when he finally strokes his cock, and he wonders if it’s the bath bomb or Louis’ hand that’s that smooth.

 

He would’ve lasted longer if they weren’t already wet and relaxing in a milky bath. He lets go of Louis’ mouth and closes his eyes to drop his head backwards, focusing completely on Louis’ soft hand around him.

 

Louis keeps kissing his neck, sucking on his earlobe and slowly slide his hand up and down his length, circling the tip with his thumb and playing with his nipple with his free hand.

 

Harry might be expressive in general, right now his moans are just deafening. The walls are choking his sounds, making his ‘ _ouh’_ a bit too overwhelming, even for him. He thinks Louis might like how loud he’s being though, because he speeds up and bites his shoulder, probably trying not to think about how Harry is rubbing his back against his own cock.

 

“You like that baby ?” Louis asks with the most gentle voice in the world, the same he uses when he asks Harry if he needs to kiss his cut better when he chops vegetables whilst watching TV.

 

“Yeah…” Harry’s moans are exhausted and on the edge, making Louis readjust himself to reach his balls, massaging them as he jerks him off, his head behind his neck.

 

Harry’s groaning, disoriented because Louis’ hands are not the only problem. Louis’ hard on is sliding along his lower back and it’s just too much to focus on. He walks his hand behind his back and mimics Louis, pumping him fast, unable to take his time when he has his leaking cock and hard balls taken care of.

 

Louis doesn’t push his hand away and moans in Harry’s ears instead, a high pitched moan that crashes and lands down his fucking spine.

 

They synchronise their movements and, after a while, they’re moving in unison, mirroring as if they’re dancing to the sweetest song, fighting over who’s going to let out the most disturbing sound.

 

Harry turns to open his mouth on Louis’ face, trying to warn him that he won’t last, so Louis just locks his jaw with a hand and slows down, working him through his orgasm, swallowing his breath, before coming himself behind Harry’s back, creating an obscene mixture of high pitched squeak and deep groan.

 

They might be lying in a bath, they’re soaking wet with sweat and now surrounded by cum. Harry thinks they might realize it at the same time because they burst out laughing and stand up, turning on the jet above their head to rinse before stepping out.

 

When Harry is in his clean boxers and Louis in his grey sweats and Harry’s white t-shirt, they slide under the covers and join in the middle, intertwining their legs, Louis wrapping his arms around Harry, pulling his back closer to his chest.

 

It doesn’t take long before Louis’ breaths are even and Harry brings his hand closer to his heart. It’s a habit he’s had since the very first night they’d spent together. He always waits for Louis to fall asleep, while he thanks every energy around him for guiding this boy into his shop…

 

 

*******

 

“Harreh ! Have you seen my black socks ?!” Louis shouts from upstairs.

 

“It’s in the sock drawer !” Harry yells back from the kitchen, rolling his eyes just like every morning when Louis asks him where’s the shoe he left in the middle of the hallway, or where’s the shirt he left on the couch, or where’s the folder he threw on the floor.

 

One thing Harry has learned after over a year of living together, it’s that Louis’ the messiest person to have ever walked this Earth. Add that to the fact that he’s incapable of doing his own laundry and that he has only ever cooked one meal, for their very first anniversary, and you’ll get the worst roommate to have. But Harry wouldn’t change him for anyone else.

 

He loves cooking for him and see his face light up when he likes a new meal, loves doing his laundry and have a soft kiss on his nose as a thank you, and he doesn’t mind picking up after Louis’ mess, smiling at the thought of him being confused and yelling in the house to find his stuff. Harry’s always looked forward to being domestic, and Louis just gives him a lot of excuses to make that wish a reality.

 

“So I have the rehearsals at ten and the workshop at twelve so we can meet at one and-“ Louis is talking fast, rushing to get to his car even if he’s already ten minutes late to work. Harry shuts him up with a peck on his lips and nods, wishing him a good day before watching him fly through the door, shoes in hand as always.

 

Harry has a meeting in his living room in about an hour with the Azoffs, so he made himself a breakfast smoothie, washed a few grapes, and goes through the pile of contracts they need to discuss.

 

The morning goes by rather slowly and he’s already exhausted by the time he has to go get Louis to eat. He had insisted on picking him up for lunch every Tuesday. Louis is convinced it’s a romantic gesture and a chance for them to actually share a meal in daylight at least once a week, but it’s really just an excuse for Harry to spy on him when he’s teaching.

 

Whenever he stops by the school, there’s always a sea of loud students making it almost impossible to reach Louis’ class. He always gets the creepiest looks from girls and a few guys and the jealous frown of their boyfriend, and it’s flattering but also very frightening sometimes.

 

As soon as he hears Louis’ voice behind the door, he leans against the wall, and just waits for him to finish, smiling at the few students staring at him and waving at the ones he actually met before. They all know he’s Louis’ boyfriend and, even if a few homophobic twats flip him off sometimes, the majority just leave him be and sometimes come to chat.

 

“…and Trevor, if I catch you with those headphones one more time they’re mine ! Mine are broken so don’t test my patience !” Louis shouts before walking out with a cheeky grin when the class laughs. He bumps right into Harry when he turns around.

 

“Hiiii.”

 

“Hi love ! Great timing there…” Harry’s pretty sure Louis knows he always comes early just to watch him with the kids, but he’s glad he never mentions it.

 

“So I was thinking Mexican ?” He pretends he’s just really good at being on time.

 

“Sure, I just have to give this to Rosie and we’re good to go.” Louis says, pointing at the paper he’s holding.

 

They quickly stop when they walk past Rosie’s art class and make their way to the Mexican restaurant they had their first date at.

 

“Gemma is coming this weekend.” Harry announces after ordering the drinks. He hasn’t seen his sister for what seems like a lifetime.

 

The last time she visited was about six months ago. She had immediately loved Louis and started treating him like her own little brother, and Harry is glad because Gemma’s opinion is just as important as his own.

 

“Sick ! Is she coming with her boyfriend again ?”

 

“No, he’s got trials next week in London, so she’s coming with Matt.”

 

“Oh, okay.” Louis has never met Matt, Gemma’s best friend, but he never forgot Harry told him he had a crush on him. Harry giggles when Louis raises a brow and rolls his eyes, already looking forward to proving he’s only his…

 

“Calvin and Stan asked me if they could stop by this weekend though…I told you how-“

 

“They were in San Francisco for Comic Con and would probably come to LA ? Yeah.” Harry tries hard to sound happy about it. He’s not.

 

He likes Stan. Stan is funny, friendly, easy to get along with, and has a lovely girlfriend. Ever since he met Calvin, however, he hasn’t been as charmed.

 

The first day he saw Calvin and Oli in his shop, he wanted to punch them so hard he had to hold onto the counter and dig his nails in it. They’re immature, incredibly sexist, objectifies women and, they might call it banter, they bully Louis every chance they get.

 

But he let go. He thought it wasn’t his place to change Louis’ friends, that he liked them for a reason, so he tried to put up with them. He had tried coping with Calvin’s eyes on him when they danced at that gig they went to, tried ignoring his hurtful homophobic jokes, tried to find something in common with him…but all he found in common was Louis. And that became a problem.

 

He saw the way he looked at him, the way he touched him a bit too much even if Louis didn’t realize. He saw how possessive he was over him and just how much he pretended not to hate Harry’s guts.

 

He had caught him staring at Louis dancing one night in their usual bar near their hotel. The way he scanned his body, the way he focused just on his friend, Harry had no doubt it wasn’t innocent, unless he was trying to learn how to move like Louis.

 

He never confronted him about it, never felt the need to, not when he saw the way Louis looked at him. Besides, when he flew to Doncaster and surprised Louis at the wedding, he thought he had made it clear that he was _there_.

Ever since they went back together in California though, Calvin’s been the greatest pain in the ass to ever exist. He calls, skypes or texts Louis every single day, sends him endless snapchats, and there was a time whatsapp’s ringtone wasn’t the worst sound in the universe.

 

He knows he’s trying to show Harry Louis hasn’t forgotten about him even if he moved in with him. He knows he’s trying to make sure Harry knows he’s his best friend and that Louis cares about him.

 

There’s just something about him. It feels like he’s pretending to be this macho womanizer who doesn’t give a fuck about anything, just to hide something else. But Harry doesn’t really know what that something is - or he doesn’t even want to think about it.

 

Hearing that he’s coming this weekend is not something he wanted though. He knew Louis’ friends would eventually want to see him or vice versa. He would have been glad to welcome Stan and Luke. Stan and Luke are sweet and not weirdly close to Louis. Oli might have been a bit dumb and uninteresting, he was still fun to be around. Calvin however, was a code red.

 

“Yeah, so they’re driving apparently…” Louis mumbles, reading the texts he just got. “…They’ll be here on Friday night.” He confirms and puts his phone back on the table.

 

Harry wished Louis saw the discomfort. Maybe he does but can’t handle his best friend and his boyfriend not getting along. He always uses a strange voice when he talks about him, like he’s not sure he can talk about him, like it’s not right.

 

“Gemma will be here Saturday morning.” Harry says, hoping Louis understands he means ‘please don’t go get fucked with them before you see my sister’.

 

“Perfect. So we can go for drinks on Friday and go pick her up at the airport after ?” And Harry is hearing something he thought was gone.

 

It’s not that he doesn’t like Louis when he’s partying. He’s fun and he’s not dangerous at all, he’s just louder than usual – if that’s even possible – and he holds onto Harry like they’re handcuffed. He loves that side of him just like he loves every other part.

 

What he’s afraid of is the influence Calvin can have on him. He would immediately deny it if you told him, but he always find his best friend’s ideas genius and always end up in twisted situation, that will make hilarious yet really scary anecdotes later on.

 

“You can go have fun with your “lads”, you haven’t seen them in a while. I’ll go pick her up so you can sleep.” Harry smiles anyway. He can hate every bit of Calvin, he still wants to make Louis the happiest man.

 

They finish their lunch and drive back to SaMo, and Louis takes his time to kiss him before getting out of the car and rushing to his next class.

 

Harry drives straight to the shop after that and spends the rest of the day serving frozen yogurts to tourists and locals he knows enough to hug every time.

 

“Hello gorgeous !” Harry hears when he’s filling the fruit bowl.

 

When he looks up, he sees Charlie, skipping to the cups, and taking forever to choose the flavour she wants. She‘s been coming there a lot and Harry figured she now worked at Jennifer’s Vans shop because there’s no way she’s spending so much time in Venice just to watch her work.

 

She’s become a close friend to both him and Louis since Rosie got him the job in SaMo. She and Jennifer have come over multiple times and they always go on double dates whenever they can. Harry knows Louis sees a confidant in her so he thanks her any way he can.

 

“Hey Charms !”

 

“How’s the princess doing today ?” Harry chuckles and flips his hair with his hand, all princess-y like.

 

“I’m good, I’m good. You ?”

 

“Good ? Just good ? Jesus ! You’re normally jumping and shouting ‘fantastic’. What’s the matter beautiful ?” Charlie frowns, taking a spoonful of every toppings, knowing she won’t pay for everything anyway.

 

“Nothing. I just…” Harry’s not the kind to talk to his friends about his personal worries, but he sort of really needs to be comforted. “Do you remember Calvin ?” He opts for subtlety.

 

“Louis’ best friend ? Course ! A huge jerk, but hella funny.” She grins and maybe it’s all fine, maybe Harry’s just being paranoid and Calvin’s actually nice.

 

“Did you…Have you ever noticed the way they treat each other ?” Harry says nervously, hoping Charlie can’t hear what he actually means.

 

“Oh yeah I know ! I actually thought they were dating at first. But then you came along so I thought, okay, maybe not.” Charlie laughs but Harry doesn’t, he really doesn’t.

 

“What do you mean ?”

 

“Well, you know, the way they always cling on each other and the way Calvin always has a hand on him and the way Louis always sits on his lap. I mean, Louis’ lucky to have you ‘cause Jennifer would be out of her mind if someone touched me like this with her alive.”

 

“He’s coming this weekend.” Harry says, containing himself.

 

“I know. Luigi told me !” She exclaims dramatically. “We’re going to the reggae bar on Friday night to reminisce a bit. But you probably know that already. You’re coming, right ?”

 

“No, I told Louis he could go with his friends since my sister’s plane is landing at seven.”

 

“Oh no ! We haven’t been properly partying for ages ! But I get it.” Charlie says, holding up her cup for Harry. He takes it and weighs her too-heavy-for-this-small-person cup and wonders where the hell she’s going to put all of that.

 

“Can you…” Harry starts, not too sure how to phrase this. “Can you keep an eye on him for me ?”

 

“Oh don’t worry, I won’t let him drink enough to throw up in the car again !” Charlie jokes, but that’s just not what Harry meant…

 

Charlie kisses him goodbye on the cheek, thanking him for the discount on the gigantic cup she created, and leaves, probably going back to Jennifer.

 

Harry closes the shop after her and keeps replaying what she said in his head. Is Calvin…No. He can’t be. Louis wouldn’t let him be this close if he was. There’s no way. He drives home to the sound of The Eagles, trying to distract his mind that’s going to explode.

 

When he walks in, Louis’ already there. He’s watching The Walking Dead, just like every Wednesday night since he decided to catch up. He’s spread on the couch in his sweats and a hoodie, hands on his mouth in shock. Harry takes one look at the screen to see one of Louis’ favourite characters die and he’s not sure if he should speak and get killed as well, so he goes upstairs unnoticed and changes into more comfortable close before coming back down.

 

“She. Fucking. Died. They. Fucking. Killed. Her.” Louis says, staring at the ceiling, and Harry smiles because the way Louis always gets too involved in a show is nothing but endearing. “I am not okay. This is not okay. I am outraged.”

 

Louis’ ranting like he’s been personally attacked and Harry lets him mourn the death of a fictional character whilst taking his rage out on the tea cupboard, slamming it twice, just to make a point, and turning the kettle on.

 

“I thought she and D-“

 

“I know ! Me too ! I am in shock. In complete shock. I don’t know how I’m going to get through this to be honest.” Louis says dramatically and Harry’s reminded of how much of a great actor he is.

 

“It’ll be okay.” Harry hugs him from behind and rests his head in the crook of his neck, patting his tummy gently.

 

They drink the tea Louis made and talk about their day, leaving out the bit they already told at lunch. They then walk to their room, both too tired to even move when they collapse on the bed.

 

“You didn’t turn the light off.” Louis grumbles in Harry’s hair.

 

“It was your turn.” Harry grumbles back.

 

Without another word, they both turn to face each other and engage in a rock paper scissors fight to determine who will get up and turn off the light. Louis grunts when Harry shows a smug expression, jiggling his hands to mimic fire, and Louis looks so done with him Harry bursts out laughing. He climbs on him like a koala as soon as he comes back and he loves how Louis pretends to be angry but can’t hide his fond and just lets his weight choke him as he falls asleep.

 

 

*******

 

 

Friday comes faster than Harry would have liked. He hasn’t been able to focus all day. He’s been dropping more things than usual, mixed the M&M’s with the Skittles and forgot to say ‘all the love’ to a few customers when giving them their cup, which is worse than it sounds.

 

“Mate, you alright ?” Liam asks when Harry still hasn’t picked one chocolate fry.

 

“Yeah.” Harry says with a dry voice and Liam mumbles an “oh god”, knowing that’s the angry Harry coming to life.

 

“What’s up ?” Niall asks and starts his second burger.

 

“Is it about Louis’ friends ?” Liam tries again, earning a death stare and a stolen fry.

 

“I’m fine.” Harry grunts. Liam and Niall know better than to push him though. Harry’s never angry but when he is, being around is not a good idea.

 

“Soph’ told me she’s going shopping with Gemma on Saturday…” Liam announces, to change the subject and keep himself and Niall safe.

 

“I didn’t know that.” Harry frowns. “I’ll probably go with them.”

 

Harry could use being around smart girls who know how to listen. He’s always said everything to his sister and Sophia is a lovely girl who cares a lot about him. Plus, he wouldn’t want to be around the house, encouraging Calvin to brag about his friendship any way he can.

 

“You don’t wanna hang out with Stan and…” Niall forgot the other name and Harry does his best when he says it.

 

“Calvin. I’d rather let them catch up.”

 

Niall and Liam don’t force it further and switch the conversation to Niall’s upcoming album as a signed solo artist. He’s playing on Sunset Boulevard in a few weeks and it’s all very exciting and Harry’s glad he can put all his mind on his friend’s success.

 

When he comes home, the words he wants to scream haven’t been invented yet. He sees a car he doesn’t know parked next to Louis’ and curses in his fist.

 

“Harry ! Mate !” Stan greets him and Harry gives him a warm brotherly embrace, happy to see the guy.

 

“How was the drive ?”

 

“Not that bad, not that bad…Great house by the way !” Stan compliments, patting his shoulder, and they’re deep talking about Comic Con when they hear Louis laugh in the garden.

 

“Harold ! Look who’s here !” Louis is yelling and Harry eyes the table to see more beers than there’s people in the house.

 

“Yeah I know…” Harry smiles and pecks Louis’ lips when he gets his cigarette out of the way. “Hi.” He tries his best not to sound too cold and unfriendly when he bumps his fist with Calvin’s.

 

“How are you mate ?” Calvin smiles as if they’re friends or something.

 

“I’m great. Stan told me you had fun at Comic Con ?”

 

“Yeah, fuck ! We met Chris Pratt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the hallway ! How fucking sick !” Calvin says, wrapping an arm around Louis’ shoulder, and Harry’s already thinking about twenty different ways to hide his body.

 

“What ?! You didn’t tell me _that_!” Louis looks at him, his face too close for Harry’s liking, and punches him playfully in the stomach.

 

“I was going to but then you started talking about The Walking Dead !” Calvin defends himself and Louis rolls his eyes, knowing he’s wrong. “Louis told us you’re not coming with tonight ?” Calvin has a challenging look on his face, like he’s won a round, and Harry thinks about how big his bin bags are to transport his corpse. _Big enough, big enough._

 

“No, my sister’s coming early tomorrow. But you lads have fun. When are you going ?”

 

“Dunno…” Louis shrugs, looking at Calvin for an answer, and Harry can tell he’s relying on him too much already.

 

“I think we said ten to Charlie and Jen ?” Calvin says, answering Louis rather than Harry who clears his throat to make him look elsewhere than his boyfriend’s eyes.

 

It’s currently eight so Harry figures he’ll have to put up with him for the next hour and a half and thinks it could be worse. But sadly enough, it’s still one of the most challenging hour and a half of his life.

 

They’re sitting on the garden couch and Harry pretends Calvin and Louis smoking that much isn’t a problem for him. The thing is, he can’t really say anything. He can’t keep Louis from catching up with his best friend, can’t make him stay away from someone he cares about so much. So he just chats with Stan about random things, spying on Louis and Calvin in the corner of his eye, making sure they’re at a safe distance.

 

“So Harry, how’s the ice cream truck going ?” Calvin jokes when Louis gets up to bring more beers and Harry fakes a laugh, crossing his legs to trap his hand that’s going to make this asshole’s nose bleed if he doesn’t shut up.

 

“I’m actually opening shops all around LA. So it’s going great.”

 

“People are asking for that weird stuff ? Wow, who knew !” Calvin laughs and Harry is thankful Stan is not laughing.

 

“Shut up bro, it’s so much better than regular ice cream. I wish we had more places in Donny ! They even have like low fat yogurt and stuff here. I like it.”

 

“Do you hear how gay you sound bro ?” Calvin giggles and Harry frowns, looking at him offended. “No offense…I don’t mean it as an insult !”

 

“Sure…” Harry mutters and takes a sip of his juice.

 

“What’s that ?” Calvin asks and Harry doesn’t even look back at him.

 

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s too gay for you.” Calvin doesn’t say anything back and just grins, leaving a silence interrupted by Louis’ footsteps.

 

Harry lets them leave after a while, making sure to kiss Louis properly, right in front of Calvin, and give him the “he’s mine so hands off” look. Calvin just coughs, not looking at them sucking on each other’s tongue on the porch.

 

As soon as they disappear behind the gates, Harry makes the most of his night alone. He cleans up the slight mess in the garden, picks up the few pieces of clothing Louis left throughout the week, and prepares the guest room for Gemma.

 

He goes to bed quite early, texting Louis so they don’t barge in screaming when they come home.

 

He’s not the clingy kind, but Louis usually answers within the next minutes and Harry’s trying hard not to let bad thoughts keep him awake. He trusts him. He trusts him so much. He’d put his life in his hands and trust him with it. So he convinces himself that there’s nothing to worry about. Calvin’s his best friend, he’s his boyfriend, and there’s room for the both of them.

 

It’s four in the morning when he jumps in the middle of a dream. He thinks it might be them coming back from the club, but instead his phone is ringing with notifications. He rubs his eyes and takes a few seconds to open them before grabbing his phone on the nightstand.

 

It’s a text message from Charlie and Harry’s heart races, thinking something happened to Louis, but all he sees is just his worst fear of the week on full display.

 

_Charlie: Dude, please kill him ?_

 

The message could have been very confusing if there wasn’t a blurry photo of Louis on Calvin’s lap attached to it. They’re in the bar Harry recognizes, on the same roof they hung out the first summer they came. Louis looks drunk, a cigarette in his mouth, and his eyes are swollen red. Calvin is holding him tight and whispering in his ear by the looks of it and Harry’s about to break his phone.

 

He gets up, walking in circles for a few seconds before throwing a book on the wall. He doesn’t get pissed off often, but when he does, he just groans loudly and throws things everywhere, letting his rage take over.

 

_Harry: Are you still there ?_

_Charlie: Yeah, but they left while I was texting you ! I think they’re coming back to yours_

_Harry: Thanks x_

_Charlie: No problem xx_

It’s only when his alarm goes off that Harry realizes he fell asleep after Charlie’s text. It’s six o’clock and he hasn’t slept well enough to get up. It takes him a little while to wake up and turn to face an empty space in the bed, usually filled by Louis spread out like a starfish. He walks to the bathroom anyway, thinking Louis might have stopped at the couch, unable to walk upstairs.

 

He takes a quick shower and puts on his black skinny jeans and a short sleeved red shirt, buttoned halfway as usual. He combs his hair with his fingers and ties it in a bun, trying to hide the mess last night was, and slips his black leather boots on before going downstairs.

 

He quickly checks the living room, the kitchen, even the garden, but there’s no sign of Louis anywhere, or anyone else.

 

Harry’s slightly worried, but if he doesn’t leave now, he will make his sister wait too long and have her scold him all the way back. Her friend Matt is staying in a separate hotel since he had his own meetings and only lands later that day, so Gemma wouldn’t bother complaining all she wants in the car.

 

He takes his keys and locks the house before hopping in his car, noticing the absence of Calvin and Stan’s, which they took last night. They’re probably still on that roof, Harry thinks. Maybe Charlie found them or maybe they just decided to take the party elsewhere. There’s no need to be paranoid.

 

Harry sends a text to Louis, just in case, and makes his way to the airport.

 

When he gets there, he still has no response. He gets out of the car, checking his phone every five seconds, and waits for his sister. Her plane is delayed so he takes the opportunity to just call him. For all he knows he might be passed out somewhere, and he just can’t bear the idea of that.

 

“Hi babe.” Louis grunts with his morning voice, clearly woken up by the call.

 

“Finally !” Harry sighs. “You alright ?”

 

“Yeah yeah…I stayed at the hotel with Cal and Stan. We might…crash there for a bit and then I’ll be home…” Louis is talking slowly, barely able to form words without yawning.

 

“Ok. I’ll see you later then.” Harry says, and hangs up when Gemma approaches him.

 

“Donut !” Harry greets his sister with his arms wide open and the biggest smile on his face.

 

Gemma is smiling just as much and nearly jumps into her brother’s arms when she finally gets close enough. They hug for so long a few other passengers yell at them to get out of the way, but they really couldn’t care less.

 

“Look at you ! You’re even taller than the last time, how is that possible ?!”

 

“And you’re even shorter !” Harry says back, patting her head to make his point. Gemma just rolls her eyes and hugs him again, before letting him carry her bag and roll her suitcase to the car.

 

“So ? How are things on the cloud ?” Gemma asks as soon as they leave the parking lot.

 

Harry’s sister has always been the one he went to for anything. She had always been non judgemental and extremely helpful and all her thoughts had always turned out to be the truth. So, when Harry met Louis, he obviously told her every detail along the way.

 

He told her how he couldn’t forget about the cute customer he had seen that day, how beautiful he was and how funny he was. He told her how he would always come in the afternoon with his friends and how he’d look forward to seeing him enter the shop every day, nearly becoming his only reason to work.

 

He also told her how hurt he was when Louis stood him up the day he asked him out. She had forced him to do so, making sure he’d take him somewhere casual first instead of ‘The Lovers Bridge” Harry had initially planned to take him. She had been able to calm him down and tell him to stop being dramatic and make sure he was an actual jerk before closing the shop and moving to another state. Overall, Gemma was just as in this relationship as Harry from the beginning.

 

But he had also told her how blue his eyes were, how gentle he was with him, how extremely funny he was event though when he explained the jokes Gemma wouldn’t burst in laughter as much as her brother. He had told her about his habit of walking around barefoot and had spent too much time talking about his ankles. He had told her about their very first date and very first kiss.

 

Gemma had went through the nightmare that was letting Louis go home the first time, and the second time, making her call Niall and Liam to check on him everyday. She had had to console him on the phone, not being able to come visit him anymore after being held back by her work.

 

He had basically told her everything about his first real crush, the first time he really fell in love, and how he was just living on a cloud with the greatest person he’s ever met.

 

“Things are great.” Harry smiles, but Gemma must notice it’s not the usual ‘Louis smile’ because she turns her whole body to make him talk. Harry knows what that means so he just sighs and clears his throat. “He went partying last night with his friends from home.”

 

“And ? You can’t be possessive over hi-“

 

“One of them is a complete asshole and can’t stop touching him.” Harry interrupts before he’s misunderstood.

 

“Oh. Have you said anything to Louis ?”

 

“I don’t want him to hate me. It’s his best friend, I can’t jeopardize that…” Harry must look very vulnerable right now because Gemma just takes his hand and squeezes it with a pout.

 

“He won’t hate you for saying what you really feel. You’re not asking him to never see him again, just to keep his hands to himself.”

 

“I guess…” Harry looks deep in thoughts, but more relaxed than before, and he’s just really glad his sister’s here right now.

 

They make their way to the house while Gemma tells everything about her promotion, her new flat, when Matt will join them, and when they’ll meet Sophia for the mall. She actually loves shopping with her brother because she can always avoid a fashion disaster and not let the Hawaiian shirt incident reoccur.

 

As soon as she’s all set up in her bedroom, Harry sneaks in with two bowls of berries and chocolate chip cookie and jumps on her bed. She immediately joins him and they spend their traditional three hour conversation about their life or random things they didn’t tell each other over Skype.

 

“Since when do you have an Xbox ?” Gemma exclaims when her eyes land on the device under the TV.

 

“Louis brought it. We come here sometimes and spend the day just playing video games. It’s so funny, he thinks I’m losing because I suck but I just love looking at him play so I get distracted. But he’s so happy to win, I just let him.”

 

“You’re disgusting.” Gemma says, munching on her bite of cookie. Harry just smirks in his bowl and nods to himself.

 

“What about the job ? Does he like it ?”

 

“Yeah he loves it ! It’s incredible how he talks about it. He loves the students and his last show was so good ! I filmed the whole thing if you wanna see it later ?” Harry looks like he’s containing himself to not run to get the DVD, but Gemma giggles and he just knows he’s doing it again. “Sorry…”

 

“Don’t be sorry, I’m so happy for you kiddo…But I’d rather not spend an hour watching Louis’ ass, thanks.”

 

“I haven’t just filmed his ass ! There’s probably a shot of a kid at some point I’m sure.” Harry jokes and the both of them nearly choke on laughter.

 

Harry had missed this. He doesn’t get too much time with the people who really know him, the people he grew up with. He’s mostly hanging out with the friends he’s made here lately and it just feels really good to be entirely himself around his sister.

 

“And how are things with dad ?” Gemma asks, as if she’d been meaning to ask that since she landed.

 

“Alright…”

 

“Haz.”

 

“I haven’t seen him. He always says he’ll stop by, but then he has a late meeting or something and cancels.” Harry tries not to show how painful it is, but his sister is the one who can understand that.

 

Their dad had made sure he’d be present financially to make up for not being there physically. They mainly spent time with their mom and then their stepdad. Des Styles was just a voice on the phone and a monthly check the second he left for Malibu.

 

“He called me the other day saying how proud he was of you…”

 

“Really ?” Harry beams at that. He loves him. No matter his mistakes, no matter how tricky it is for him to be there, he loves his dad and wants nothing more than to make him proud.

 

“Yeah. And he’s happy for you, you know ?” Gemma sets her bowl aside and pulls Harry into her side, making them lay down on the gigantic pillows behind them. “He doesn’t always know how to show it, but he’s happy you’re happy.”

 

Harry’s dad had never been homophobic, wasn’t the traditional man most dads usually are, and truly loved his children. He’s tolerant and loving and he and Anne had raised their children to be as tolerant and loving to everyone. So when Harry came out to his family when he was sixteen, they were nothing but supportive.

 

 

But it didn’t change the fact that Des hadn’t met Louis yet. He always said he would love to meet him, but never showed up.

 

“Do you need more cookies ?” Harry changes the subject.

 

“No, I’m good. I wanna have enough room when we go to the mall, those food courts are all I’m here for.”

 

“Well, thanks !” Harry pretends to look offended, making his sister tickle him to bring his smile back.

 

They fall asleep right after and are awaken by Gemma’s phone ringing. Sophia tells her she’s on the way so they’re quick to freshen up from their nap and Harry texts Louis their whereabouts before climbing into Sophia’s car.

 

They first stop at Victoria Secret to get it out of the way because they just know Harry’s going to embarrass them trying out bras and modelling every piece of clothing he looks at. Then they just walk around, stopping for scented candles, shoes, clothes and purses.

 

Harry hasn’t found anything he liked enough so he just helps the girls carry their bags and enjoys the chit chats about the latest juice cleanse he just has to try for a cleansed body and softer skin. They book a session when walking past the yoga centre, and finally end up in a manicure salon. Harry didn’t want to be left out so he agreed to join them and has been choosing his colour of nail polish for fifteen minutes.

 

“I think this reddish pink…” Harry asks and finally sits back in his chair between his sister and Liam’s girlfriend.

 

“So you still haven’t heard from him ?” Sophia asks, leaning closer to Harry who’s too relaxed to open his eyes.

 

“Nope.”

 

“And you’re not worried ?” Gemma adds.

 

“I trust him. Plus, he’s a grown man, he can do what he wants without me babying him.”

 

“BS.” Gemma chuckles and Sophia rolls her eyes, because they’re just not buying it.

 

“You’ve been checking your phone the entire day. It’s not obsessive to just call him to make sure he’s at least alive.” Sophia explains. “When Liam is out with friends, and especially around some girls I don’t trust, I call him and make sure he gets it. It doesn’t mean I don’t trust _him_.”

 

“Exactly. And especially when you know you definitely can’t trust that touchy friend.” Gemma agrees.

 

“How touchy ?” Sophia asks.

 

“Louis’ been sitting on his lap a few times and he just always keeps at least one hand on him. I keep thinking it’s nothing since he’s not into guys, but I’m not sure I’m okay with this.”

 

“Hmm…Hmm..” The woman doing Harry’s nails huffs, clearly biting her tongue not to take part into the conversation.

 

“Sonya, how many straight guys do you know would constantly touch their bro pal and make them sit on their lap multiple times ?” Gemma asks the woman.

 

“Well, let me see…ZERO.”

 

“You think he likes him like that ?” Harry raises a brow.

 

“I mean, it could be harmless, but you should probably check before it’s too late you know. Better safe than sorry.” Sophia ends the conversation with this, leaving Harry to question this friendship just a little bit more.

 

They stop by the food court when they’re done and Gemma makes sure she takes a picture of every angle of her ice cream cookie before they go back home.

 

The three of them are chatting in the garden when Louis finally makes an appearance.

 

“Hello everyone !” He smiles kindly and all of Harry’s worries seem so small all of a sudden, he can’t even remember what he was supposed to talk about with him.

 

Louis hugs and kisses Sophia’s cheek first, then Gemma, and then waits for Harry to stand up before pulling him down with a hand on the back of his neck to give him a chaste kiss, or four. Harry wraps his arms around his waist and Gemma has to coughs to remind them they’re not alone before anything goes beyond that.

 

“How are you girls ?” Louis asks, sitting next to Harry, lazily resting a hand on his thigh.

 

“We’re good, we’re good ! We’ve missed you today !” Gemma pouts, glancing briefly at Harry who knows her sister is trying to help him somehow.

 

“Yeah, I was with me mates from back home. They’re leaving tomorrow so I’m trying to see them as much as I can.”

 

“That’s nice. What have you guys been up to ?” Sophia asks, as smooth as Gemma.

 

“The usual. Just a few drinks, good fun, good fun.” Louis stays vague but Harry knows he probably just doesn’t want to tell his sister he’s been smoking weed and getting drunk all night.

 

“That’s nice…” Gemma gives up trying to make him say anything else.

 

“What about you ? The mall, huh ?” Louis changes the subject, intertwining his fingers with Harry’s, making him notice the new shade of colour of his nails. “Manicures perhaps ?”

 

Harry just nods blissfully, completely awestruck by Louis smiling at him. He can’t even let one word out and just hums, biting his bottom lip, happy Louis’ clearly liking the colour.

 

“Such a pretty baby.” Louis whispers in his ear and Harry feels something build up in his stomach but tries to ignore it in front of the the audience they have right now.

 

“So I’m gonna go…” Sophia announces, trying to escape the upcoming PDA she really doesn’t want to witness.

 

“Oh no, stay ! Please ?” Gemma is begging her friend to not let her alone with these two and Sophia giggles with apologetic eyes.

 

“I have to meet Liam…But isn’t Matt arriving soon ?” And it’s all Louis needed to let go of Harry’s attention.

 

“Oh yeah ! He landed already but had meetings so he’ll be with us tonight.”

 

“Tonight ?” Louis asks.

 

“Yeah, he’s coming for diner.” Harry confirms and Louis doesn’t seem to pleased about it, making the feeling in Harry’s chest a bit worse because a jealous Louis makes a horny Harry.

 

“I’ll walk you to your car Soph’. Then don’t call for me you two, I’ll be tanning and I want no disturbance whatsoever !” Gemma warns Harry and Louis and goes back inside with Liam’s girlfriend.

 

“You didn’t tell me he was coming tonight…” Louis scolds.

 

“I did. But you’d have to check your texts to know.” Harry reminds him. “Hey, can I talk to you about something ?”

 

“Of course baby. Is something wrong ?”

 

“I hope not. Look I just…” Harry’s trying so hard but Louis is looking at him like he’s about to end his world and he just can’t break that beautiful smile he can’t live without.

 

“Hold on…” Louis stops him, getting his ringing phone out of his hoodie. “Yeah ?...Yeah…What ?…Fuck !...Okay…Bye”

 

“What happened ?”

 

“I forgot my wallet in Stan’s room. I’m gonna go get it…But what did you want to tell me babe ?”

 

“Um…Nothing. Not important. You’ll be back for tonight, yeah ?”

 

“Course ! Wouldn’t want to miss Matt…” Louis winks and Harry giggles, accepting Louis’ kiss on his cheek before he leaves.

 

Harry goes to the kitchen to prepare dinner with Gemma when she’s done tanning and he focuses on the chopped veggies to forget about how it’s been over two hours and Louis still isn’t back.

 

“Matt !” Gemma yells when they hear the bell. Harry nearly drops the tray of cupcakes in his hands at the scream and gives the most threatening look he can to his sister who just apologizes weakly and runs to the door.

 

“Hey mate !” Harry hugs Gemma’s friend and invites him in, blushing at the look he’s giving him.

 

Matt has had a crush on Harry for the longest time but he knows Harry knows it and has a boyfriend so it just turned into a playful game between them where Harry will do everything to make him melt and Matt will dramatically cry or scold him, making him laugh a bit too loud. Matt has no intention of dating Harry, obviously, but it still a fun dynamic.

 

They’re chatting in the living room with their glass of wine when Louis enters.

 

He must have stopped by the bedroom before coming to them because he’s change from his hoodie and Vans to his black skinny jeans, the Yves Saint Laurent tee shirt Harry had gotten him for Valentine’s Day, and the fancy grey shoes coming under his ankles. It would’ve been quite painful enough for Harry if he didn’t styled his hair in a side quiff, face looking bright and strikingly gorgeous.

 

“Hello ! I’m Louis.” He introduces himself to Matt and shakes his hand, smiling kindly even though Harry suspects he’s thinking about ways to make him leave.

 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Matt. I can’t believe I can finally meet your boyfriend ! I thought Louis was the lucky one, but you’re the lucky one here Styles !” Matt squeaks. Louis laughs with his deep voice and licks his bottom lip and Harry might be having a seizure real soon.

 

“We were actually talking about you.” Harry mutters when Louis sits down close next to him, facing Gemma and Matt on the couch in front of them.

 

“Really ? Good things I hope ?” Louis grins and sneaks a hand on Harry’s thigh as usual.

 

“Of course !” Matt says and Harry can feel Louis relax a bit more.

 

They sit at the dining table after a while and Matt shares crazy college stories that have them cry laughing in their plate, and it’s all good mood and a bit too much red wine…a perfect night.

 

“I heard you had a new shop opening in the city Harry ! How does that even happen ?!” Matt is very expressive and excited about everything, which is very endearing, and Harry is pleased to talk about his business. They just get into a long conversation and he’s glad he can show off his work a bit.

 

As soon as he feels a hand on his legs, he just knows Louis is craving attention. Harry’s been focusing on Matt and ignoring him and he must have hit his limit. He drags his hand up to rest on Harry’s crotch under the table, massaging it whilst keeping a focused expression on what Gemma is saying.

 

Harry is the worst at subtlety and has to cough quickly when a moan starts escaping his lips. Louis just smirks and engages in a conversation about his job, keeping his hand strong between Harry’s legs. He takes the opportunity to speed up the pace the second Gemma and Matt turn to face each other and Harry is basically dying in silence.

 

“Tell him Harry !” Gemma must have been telling an amazing story that Matt can’t believe and she probably wanted Harry to prove she was telling the truth, but at this point Harry had enough sexual frustration to combust.

 

“What ?” He breathes, fighting to keep his eyes from fluttering.

 

“Tell him how you came !” Gemma pushes him and she might be talking about Jay’s wedding day when Harry surprised Louis, all he can think of is how he really wishes he could just come right now.

 

“Yeah, tell him how eager you were to come Harry…” Louis smiles and Harry can’t move but if he could, he’d be flipping Louis off.

 

“Um…yeah…um…” Harry struggles, Louis’ hand still rubbing his covered cock, and he wonders how neither guests can tell what’s going on.

 

“Oh god, you’re so bad at this. Okay let me tell the story.” Louis takes over and Harry has never been this ready to pass out. “So he shows up behind me when I’m trying to enjoy the chocolate fondue, right ?”

 

Harry suddenly has flashbacks of what happened right after that moment and he just hopes Louis will stop there because he’s just getting more desperate for relief.

 

“So anyway, we catch up and everything and it was just _so hard_ not to just tell him I had the job like… _so hard_ !” Louis is having a lot of fun and keeps telling the story whilst Harry stops listening to avoid the embarrassment of squeak moaning in front of his sister and her friend.

 

“That’s so romantic.” Matt coos and Louis finally lets go of Harry’s hard cock under the table to grab his glass.

 

Harry’s still hard and ready to explode but Louis doesn’t put his hands back on him, leaving him to die while everyone else chats about random things. He’s still not too sure about his state when they get up so he assures them he’ll clean everything so they can go back to the living room.

 

“You’re such a-“ Harry starts but can’t finish because Louis is already kissing him, sucking on his tongue a bit before pulling away.

 

“You look a bit flushed love. What’s wrong ?” Louis asks with a faked concerned look and Harry really wants to fight him but he also really wants to get on his knees for him.

 

When he manages to walk without a noticeable bulge, they hug Matt goodbye and Louis looks furious when Harry rubs Matt’s back so gently. Gemma kisses their cheek and flees to her room, leaving them in the kitchen to finish cleaning up everything because she’s on vacation and that just means laziness.

 

“So that was fun…” Louis chuckles and Harry looks at him with a frown with a hand on his hip, making Louis burst in laughter.

 

“You’re so jealous...” Harry mumbles and continues getting the leftovers in the fridge.

 

“Well, I don’t like other people getting all over you.” Louis shrugs and Harry takes the opportunity to address the issue that’s been worrying him a bit too much for a while.

 

“While we’re on the subject…Is Calvin a hundred per cent straight ?” Harry wanted to be subtle and careful but the words just came out and he can’t really take them back.

 

“What ?”

 

“I just don’t like other people getting all over you as well, and Calvin always has his hands on you and you’re always sitting on his lap, and I don’t like that.” Harry’s waiting for Louis to protest, waiting for him to deny it. But he doesn’t.

 

“He’s confused about himself.”

 

“Meaning ?”

 

“Meaning he might be attracted to guys. But since he told me I kept my distance with him, so nothing to worry about.” Harry would have preferred him denying over this anytime.

 

“So you know he likes you and you let him get this close ?”

 

“It’s hard to just stop old habits Harry. I stop him when he goes too far but-“

 

“How far has he gone ?” Harry dares asking, not sure he wants to know. He closes his eyes to contain himself when Louis doesn’t answer and prepares himself to be the most understanding person in the world when he asks again. “How far Louis ?”

 

“Not _that_ far. Just…Kissed my neck and tried touching me…But I stopped him.”

 

Harry looks emotionless. He’s pursing his lips and looking at the ground and he’s not sure if he should be this close to so many valuable objects because he just wants to throw everything on the floor.

 

The only thought going through his mind is why. Why didn’t Louis tell him this earlier ? Why did he hide Calvin was attracted to him ? Why did he let him think there was nothing more than friendship on both sides ?

 

“Harry. Nothing else happened. He’s my friend, I don’t like him like that. And he respects you now. He’d never do something against you, or me.” Louis tries but Harry remembers the smug look on Calvin’s face when he saw him in his garden with an arm around Louis’ shoulder, or that picture of Louis on his lap in the club.

 

“He respects me so much he takes you on his lap when I’m not around ?” Harry says with a slow and low tone, letting Louis know he’s aware of what was going on the night before.

 

“You don’t need to spy on me you know. I was thinking about you the entire night. I thought about how better it’d be if you were there. So much so that Calvin and Stan didn’t want to party anymore, so we went back to their hotel for a smoke instead.”

 

“But you’re affectionate when you’re high.” Harry remarks and Louis frowns and puffs.

 

“I’m affectionate, not stupid.”

 

“And him ?” Harry asks, still not looking up. “Was he stupid last night ?”

 

“No. I promise.” Louis says firmly, taking Harry’s face in his hands to make him look straight into his eyes and see how sincere he is. Harry nods and lets Louis kiss him softly, washing away all the doubt. "But I'll keep my distance if it makes you this uncomfortable. And I'll sure he does the same."

 

The thing is, Sophia was right. It’s not that he doesn’t trust him, he just doesn’t trust Calvin. So there’s no need to be angry at Louis, there’s no need to accuse him of something he knows nothing about, especially when Louis spends his day showing how much he loves him, and only him.

 

They resume clearing out the kitchen and Harry notices that Louis hasn’t splashed him with water even though he’s right behind the sink, and figures he needs to relax a bit after this awkward talk.

 

He walks behind him and nuzzles his head into his neck before kissing it, walking his hands on his hips. He squeezes them gently and slides his hands under Louis’ shirt, caressing his hot skin, digging his thumbs in Louis’ dimples down his spine.

 

“I like your hair like that…” Harry whispers in his ear before kissing his neck again.

 

“Yeah ?” Louis asks. “How much ?”

 

“This much…” Harry breathes against his earlobe before sucking on it. “…and this much…” he whispers again, dragging his fingers all along Louis’ spine under his shirt, stopping briefly at his hips before going further down. “…and this much.” He moans, palming Louis over his jeans, his big hand covering everything in one go.

 

Louis lets him rub his cock over his jeans without arguing. He lets him work his way to a very hard and very disoriented Louis, walking backwards to bury himself into Harry’s chest. Harry’s hand is just sinful. He’s rough but not too much, gentle but not too slow…

 

“Please ?” Harry begs in Louis’ neck, making him turn his head to speak into his mouth.

 

“You’re always so hungry for my cock.”

 

“I am. Very much so.” Harry pouts.

 

“You know it’s yours.” Louis whispers and finally turns around completely.

 

Harry lets him grip his jaw and keep his mouth open to welcome his tongue and he couldn’t be more pleased. Louis just knows what to do to have him to his demand.

 

He doesn’t have to demand much however, because Harry knows what he likes. He knows what makes him scream and what makes him look passed out. He knows what makes his toes curl just as much as he knows how to make him plead for relief.

 

Harry slowly gets to his knees, eyes still on Louis’, hands slowly securing on his thighs. When he breaks the gaze and looks at Louis’ crotch, he walks his mouth over it, making Louis run his fingers through his hair. He slowly undoes the belt and spends a lifetime unzipping his jeans, caressing him along the way, careful and gentle.

 

He pulls his jeans and boxers to his ankles at the same time and pants at the sight. He’s biting his lip and absentmindedly sucking on his own fingers, and he must look like the hungriest person alive right now.

 

Louis takes himself in hand and starts pumping his erection right in Harry’s face. Harry is trying hard not to unzip his own jeans because seeing Louis touch himself that close is a bit too painful, but if he starts wanking he won’t be half as content.

 

He patiently waits for Louis to decide when he’s ready to have him suck on his cock and just watches in the meantime, sitting on his heels like he’s admiring the most beautiful performance of his life. He watches his hand rub his length and circle a thumb on the tip and he’s getting a bit too lost.

 

“C’mere baby.” Louis whispers, cupping Harry’s cheek with his free hand, cursing when Harry opens his mouth wide, eyes glued on the head.

 

Harry takes his tongue out just like he does whenever he’s about to get something in his mouth, and lets Louis guide himself in, only taking over with his hands when Louis places his own on the counter for balance.

 

He makes sure to make Louis wet enough to easily slide. He licks the head and slowly sinks down, all while looking at him, making sure he memorizes the image when he’ll jerk himself off in the shower. He moans at the first contact of his lips sucking the tip of Louis’ cock and quickly licks them, making them just a little bit more wet to taste Louis. He sucks slowly before taking care of his balls that he figures have been a bit neglected until now.

 

He makes sure they’re slick and hardening under his tongue before going back to Louis’ shaft, making his hand meet his mouth as he bobs his head and hollows his cheeks to make Louis lose his mind.

 

He doesn’t have to look at him to know he’s enjoying this, but he does anyway, because seeing Louis like this is a treasure. He’s dropped his head back and his knuckles turned white from gripping the edge of the counter and he’s pursing his lips and squinting his eyes and yes. Yes, that’s just beauty.

 

He keeps sucking, spending a while on the head and smiling internally when he takes all of him back in. He can feel him slightly rock into his mouth and it’s just his favourite part. He knows Louis won’t be too long. He takes him whole again and does a long “ahhhhh” to make him slide down his throat, moaning when he knows he’s done it, enjoying the feeling of being this full.

 

Louis pushes his hair back, because it must have been getting in the way of Harry’s mouth, but he just keeps his hand there, feeling Harry’s movements and enjoying the pace, and probably also using that as an excuse to touch his soft hair.

 

When he hears Louis cry a moan, he starts hollowing his cheeks a bit more, swallowing his cock. He keeps bobbing his head a bit faster and tries his best to get him off better than he ever has before, which is what he tells himself every time. Louis’ grip gets rougher though and he pulls him away. Harry lets go and watches as Louis jerks himself off and covers his entire face with cum. He keeps his mouth opened and eyes closed, letting Louis come on his face as he wishes, sticking his tongue out like a happy puppy in the pouring rain.

 

He lets him come back slowly, still unable to let go of the counter. He stays sat on his heels, getting the cum with his fingers and sucking on them to clean his face. He would move but it was a bit too much for him and he’s just sitting with very wet boxers…

 

When Louis opens his eyes again, he pulls his pants back on and gives a hand to Harry so he can stand up. He hesitates but gets on his feet, making uncomfortable noises because walking in his wet pants is not the best sensation.

 

They go back upstairs and just hope Gemma was asleep the whole time and didn’t get any cravings because she wouldn’t step into that kitchen he she knew what they have the habit of doing in there.

 

“Do you even know how much I love you ?” Louis asks when Harry rolls into his chest under the covers.

 

“I hope at least half as much as I love you.”

 

“No…I love you more than that.”

 

“You think you love me more than I love you ?”

 

“I know so.” Louis whispers and pecks Harry’s ear before dropping his head on the pillow.

 

“You know we could argue all night about this, right ?” Harry asks, just to make sure. He hears the most adorable laugh then, the one Louis always hides with the back of his hand. So they fall asleep like that, with the understanding that even they don’t know how far their love go.

 

*******

 

“Harry ! Louis !” Niall yells as soon as they enter his dressing room and it’s a bit crowded with all his friends, including Liam and Sophia, but they manage to reach him and wish him good luck for his concert.

 

“Have you decided for the final setlist ?” Harry asks, trying not to sound too suspicious.

 

“Yeah mate, check it out !” Niall hands him the sheet and Harry makes sure Louis’ too busy bullying Liam to notice him.

 

He’d been preparing this for a while. He hadn’t told Louis any of it. He wanted it to be special. He had been thinking about it a lot, and had convinced Niall to choose the right song to perform.

 

He had been writing a few songs for his friend, but some of them were more special than others, and one was just his heart put into words and he couldn’t let Louis just read it or just hear it in the little studio. He needed the words to be echoing in a sold out festival venue, showing how loud those feelings were.

 

They had rented a house with Liam and Sophia in Palm Springs for the occasion. It was going to be a weekend full of beer, music and heat. And if everything went as planned, full of sex- love, full of love.

 

“Perfect…” Harry says to himself and takes a deep breath as he looks over at Louis, slapping Liam for some reason, making them both laugh and chase each other in the hallway.

 

They hug Niall one last time before joining the crowd and standing in a separate area with Ed Sheeran and all the artists Niall was friends with. Harry might have been frowning at the sight of Hozier when Louis started staring at him and turning into a giggly mess when introduced, but then he vanished in the distance so he relaxed.

 

Niall was killing it. He was strumming his guitar like a rock star and hitting crazy notes and owned the audience and Harry was so proud to see him make his dream come true and enjoy every second of it, he almost forgot there was something that concerned him. Well, him and Louis.

 

“This next song was written by my very talented best friend who’s with us tonight.” Niall announces, winking at Harry who winks back, watched by a very surprised Louis. “He wrote it for me to sing, but he most importantly wrote it for the love of his life, who also happens to be here. Louis, this is for you.”

 

Louis is looking at him like he’s about to murder him for not telling him, but also like he’s about to jump into his arms. When he hears the first few chords on the acoustic guitar, Harry lets go of Louis’ hand to wrap his arms around him, swaying the two of them to the slow melody.

 

Louis is still speechless and just rests his hands over Harry’s, closing his eyes when Harry starts to sing into his ear, harmonizing with Niall.

 

The first verses make Louis squeeze Harry’s hands and he just hopes the words go straight to his heart. He makes sure to stare at him when the chorus comes and the song speeds up, making the crowd cheer as they start to dance excitedly.

 

_And I know we’ll be okay_

_Because we both feel the same way_

_There is no doubt, there is no fear_

_I’ll always keep you safe, my dear_

 

Niall is giving everything he has on stage, making sure the camera gets a glimpse at Harry and Louis locked together, kissing as he sings just how much Harry loves Louis to the crowd, while Harry sings it in Louis’ ear for only him.

 

By the end of the song, Louis is fighting back tears and can’t let Harry’s hands go, so he figures he likes the song. He thanks him with a deep kiss, a gentle squeeze, watery eyes and endless I love you’s while Niall laughs happily.

 

“You two are too cute.” Niall says in the mic and the crowd comes together in a united “awww” when they show them on the big screen. Harry just waves at the camera and Louis nervously fixes his fringe, trying hard to pretend there’s not a whole festival looking at them.

 

They go back to the rented house after that, grabbing some food on their way out, and turn the house into a party venue when Niall crashes with ten other people. They’re all glad because they get to enjoy the night till the end and Harry makes sure to stay by Louis’ side when he talks to Hozier, so it’s alright.

 

The party ends when most people leave around three in the morning. Sophia and Liam are already in their room and Niall is slowly falling asleep on the couch, probably too exhausted after the show, and Harry cleans the slight mess while Louis is taking a shower.

 

The rest of the weekend is full of tanning and making out in the inside pool when everyone’s outside and they might not get the deposit back if the owners find out what happened in their hot tub, but they spent the weekend having fun with their new friends and enjoying the pool and the sun before a week back at work, so it’s all good really.

 

The return from the long weekend is not as good though.

 

Louis’ come home later than usual and is looking too stressed out to be wondering where he will place Samantha in the next play.

 

Harry’s sorting out contracts in the living room and stretches an arm the second he sees the concern on his face. Louis pecks his lips and drops on the couch, head on Harry’s lap.

 

“One of my students told me he was going to kill himself.” Louis says when Harry strokes his forehead to sweep his hair out of his face.

 

“What ?!”

 

“He says his parents are better off without him, none of his friends understand him and he really doesn’t want to keep living .” Louis speaks in shock, hiding his face behind his hands, probably trying to erase what he felt at that moment.

 

“What did you tell him ?” Harry has so many questions but he figured that was the most important one.

 

“What did you want me to say ? I don’t know how to handle this, I’ve never dealt with this situation…I told him that he shouldn’t do this and that people cared about him…But I don’t think I was very convincing…I don’t know what to do…Should I warn his parents ? The director ?”

 

“No !” Harry stops him. “The last thing he probably wants is attention. He told you that as a confession, you can’t tell anyone if he doesn’t tell you to.”

 

“But what if something happens to him ? Then it’ll be my fault not to make sure he’s safe !”

 

“But if nothing happens, he’ll have issues trusting people and want to die even more.” Harry says back. He hates to see the look on Louis’ face right now. “Let me talk to him.”

 

“What ? Why ? Do you think you can talk him out of it ?”

 

“I don’t know if I can talk him out of it, but I can talk with him. Sometimes it makes things better to just talk.”

 

“But he doesn’t know you, he’ll probably freak out.”

 

“Which one is it ?”

 

“Connor.” Louis grunts, probably frustrated because he’s one of the best students he’s ever seen.

 

“Oh I know Connor. Is he the blond football player always smiling ?”

 

“Um…yeah…” Louis looks confused because he’s not supposed to know Harry sometimes chat with his students when he waits for him, but that’s another concern for another day.

 

“I think he likes me. He’ll talk to me.”

 

“You will ?” Louis is giving him the saddest look and Harry thinks he might welcome that kid into their house if he needs to.

 

“Of course Lou.” Louis thanks him with a kiss and goes to the kitchen while Harry’s finishing what he’s doing.

 

Harry doesn’t wait a day before showing up to Louis’ school to spot Connor. No kid should ever think about killing themselves and he doesn’t care what he has to do, he won’t let him take away his life so soon.

 

He’s getting out of his car when he hears someone call him, and thanks God he doesn’t have to spend hours searching for him.

 

“Hi mate !” Harry smiles and bumps his fist with Connor’s.

 

“Mr Tomlinson has a class right now…” Connor raises a brow as if to ask why Harry’s here.

 

“Really ? Must have gotten the days mixed up. Darn it.” Harry’s not the best actor but being this weird all the time makes it harder to tell if he’s serious or not. “Going home ?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“You’re telling me you’re finished with your classes at ten in the morning ?” Harry smirks, knowing Connor’s supposed to be in Louis’ class right now.

 

“Please don’t tell Mr Tomlinson…” Connor begs with his hands in prayer and Harry can’t see the pain he must be going through in his eyes and he thinks he might be really good at hiding himself.

 

“I won’t. Only if you hang out with me.” Harry blackmails the student who would’ve thought he was a creep if he weren’t this young.

 

“You wanna hang out with me ? Why ?”

 

“It’s a beautiful day, the sun is out… I don’t have any plans and, according to your schedule, you don’t either.” Harry tries to convince Connor, looking down at his feet, probably trying to think how he can isolate himself.

 

“Will you tell him I ditched if I don’t come with you ?”

 

“Yes. Absolutely, yes.” Harry lies and Connor laughs, probably knowing Harry wouldn’t do that, but following him in his car anyway.

 

They get to a park not too far, but far enough, and sit down on the swings facing the children area. There’re toddlers playing with sand and six year olds climbing everything and laughter echoing.

 

“So, why would you skip Lou-Mr Tomlinson’s class ?”

 

“I just didn’t feel like it today…” Connor says, looking at the kids playing.

 

“Sick of school ?”

 

“Not really…Just sick of people at school.”

 

“High school can suck sometimes…” Harry says, looking for anything on Connor’s face who just smiles in agreement.

 

“Did you hate it ?”

 

“At the time, yes. But now I wish I could go back if I’m honest…” Harry chuckles, not believing he’s saying that, even though it’s completely true.

 

“I wish I could graduate and leave already.”

 

“Why ? You don’t like your friends here ?”

 

“I do but…It’s complicated.” Connor focuses on a little boy coming down the slide and smirks when he shouts proudly.

 

“Try me.” Harry insists, making Connor laugh one more time before letting a serious expression spread across his face and Harry sees who hides behind that perfect smile for the first time.

 

“It’s just…I’m not…I don’t feel like I belong, you know ? And it’s hard to pretend you’re like everybody else when you know you’re not.”

 

“You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not to fit in. Being who you aren’t will lead you to the people who treat you like someone you’re not.”

 

“Yeah but…I feel like I can’t be myself without being judged…”

 

“So you’d rather spend a lifetime being someone else and be miserable than to be yourself and attract people who’d like the real you ? Including yourself ?” There’s a long pause and Harry doesn’t say anything else, letting Connor think about it.

 

“But what if they don’t accept who I am ?” Connor asks, struggling not to cry and Harry doesn’t know where this is going but he’s reliving middle school.

 

“The right people will. I can promise you that.” There’s another long pause and Harry lets Louis’ student sob as he watches the kids from afar.

 

“I’m scared.” Connor cries and Harry swings closer to him to hold his hand.

 

“Of what ?”

 

“Letting go of the Connor everybody knows…”

 

“Who’s the Connor everybody knows ?”

 

“He…He’s always smiling, he’s friendly and always laughing…He’s an athlete and the heart of the party…” Connor sobs, holding Harry’s hand tight enough not to break. “He’s close with his friend and his family and they all love him. They’re always talking about how proud they are because he’s the smart, perfect kid who’ll marry the perfect girl when he goes to college with a scholarship for playing football…And he’s happy.”

 

“And who’s the real Connor ? Who are you ?” Harry asks, squeezing his hand just a bit more to show him he’s listening.

 

“I’m not happy. I…I hate football. I always have. I love drama. I love acting, I love performing, I love playing different characters on a stage and I love the feeling I get from it.” His eyes light up and there’s a weak smile forming without notice and Harry can just tell how passionate he is about it. “I haven’t been laughing sincerely for ages and I feel miserable every single day… And I…” Connor stops, clearly hesitant to say more.

 

“Go on…”

 

“I don’t want to marry the perfect girl…I want to marry the perfect guy.” He says, finally looking up at Harry and bursting into tears in his free hand.

 

Harry lets him cry in his hand and recompose himself, allowing him to express every repressed feelings he’s been keeping inside. He squeezes his shoulder, making him look at him, eyes red and cheeks wet.

 

“That person sounds lovely Connor. I’d love to meet that guy.”

 

They stay on the swings for a while and Harry tells him funny stories about what happened when he came out to his friends. He tells him how it shows who your true friends are and how he was surprised of who that was, bringing people he never thought he’d be friends with. He tells him how being himself made his life worth it and how if he had kept up a lie he wouldn’t have met Louis.

 

He explains everything about finding himself first but reassures him quickly that it’s the fun part. Connor is peacefully listening to everything Harry’s telling him and laughing at his stories, and, when a silence settles, the worries on his face have been replaced with a genuine smile.

 

They make their way back to the school’s parking lot and Harry hugs the student tight and gives him his number, encouraging him to call anytime he needs to talk or wants advice. He gets into his car smirking, glad he could talk with this kind and lost teenager. He can’t help the smile splitting his face in two when he gets a text from him moments after.

 

_Connor: You don’t know how much it meant to me. Thank you._

 

He gets home - because there’s not that much time left to work at the shop - and figures he should probably stick to steady hours before someone complains.

 

When Louis comes home, Harry’s waiting for him with a bowl, milk, cereals and a smile.

 

“What did you do ?” Louis asks, skeptical because Harry always scolds him when he wants to eat breakfast for diner, even when he insists cereals are all-day foods.

 

“Nothing.” Harry smirks, pulling the chair for Louis to sit.

 

“Does it involve me fixing something ?”

 

“No.” Harry grins and it’s all Louis needs to sit down and fill his bowl. “I already did.”

 

 

*******

 

 

 

There has been many days Harry had been dreading throughout the years. None of them equalled today.

 

“You’re alright ?” Louis asks when he sees Harry’s hands shake when getting a tie around his neck, struggling to make a presentable knot. “Okay, maybe we can skip the tie love.”

 

Louis takes the silk piece out of Harry’s neck and readjusts his white shirt.

 

“Yes. Yes. Sure. No.” Harry stutters and sits down on the bed as if standing up longer will break his legs. Louis joins him and rubs his thigh to calm him down. “I haven’t seen him in so long. I don’t know if I can do this.”

 

Tonight, Harry’s receiving an award for youngest entrepreneur of the year at The Beverly Hills hotel, and he might have been nervous to step on the stage and make a speech, he was terrified to know his dad would be there.

 

Despite Louis’ constant reassurance, Harry feels his heart beating in his mouth. He’s worked really hard and stayed awake for months trying to make sure he wouldn’t need his father’s money anymore. He’s created his own company and has been working on it long enough to get steady incomes and secure his reputation in the business world. He might have started with a frozen yoghurt, it’s now a well implanted corporation making the most profit.

 

What Harry is really proud of, is how he was able to reinvest that money he received into charities, one of which he created himself in Accra, a city he visited in Ghana on his gap year. He had been so struck by the poverty as well as the amount of orphans, that he had decided to set up a children centre providing free shelters, food and activities to children in difficulties.

 

He had built an empire by himself and was congratulated for it tonight. The only person he still needed congratulations from, however, was his dad.

 

He’s been living with Louis for four years now and his dad had only met him once for about an hour when they awkwardly ran into each other on the street. He had been polite and seemingly glad to meet him, but he didn’t make any effort to reach out after that. He always looks like he doesn’t want to face his son , like Harry’s going to tell him to fuck off any chance he gets.

 

Truth is, Harry forgave him. He forgave his absence, forgave him cheating on the whole family and forgave him for running away. But he couldn’t forgive him for not being the dad he needed. He had always been closer to Gemma, but Harry was always left out, probably because his dad felt more conscious and guilty around him still.

 

“Look at me.” Louis whispered, turning Harry’s head to face him. “I am _so_ proud of you. You’ve worked really hard and your contribution to people in need is incredible. Don’t let him ruin that day too.”

 

Harry nodded and kissed Louis with all the pain he was feeling, and they finished getting ready before walking down to the lobby.

 

“This year, we’re glad to celebrate a young man with big ambitions and an even bigger heart…”

 

The audience is composed of too important people and Nobel Prize winners and Harry feels his heart racing when they finally announce his name. He kisses Louis who tells him how proud he is of him, and makes his way from their table to the stage.

 

“Wow, I’m incredibly honoured to be holding this shiny thing in my hand.” Harry says, making the crowd laugh even though he isn’t joking at all. “It represents all the hard work that’s been put all these years not only to build way too many frozen yoghurt shops in the country, but also more jobs no matter the background and enough resources to make this world just a little bit better and spread some love. I want to say a massive, massive thank you to my partners, Irving Azoff and Jeff Azoff, all the people that had a role in this, from the designers to the volunteers around the world. I also want to thank my motivation and the one person that’s been making this possible by believing in me and being so supportive…” Harry takes a deep breath before going too deep when he sees the way Louis is looking at him. “Louis Tomlinson, my best friend and the love of my life.”

 

Harry is about done with his improvised speech - completely ignoring the paper he had in his pocket – when he sees him. Sitting right next to Louis is his dad, tears in his eyes. He stands up and claps proudly, cheering his son as the rest of the audience joins him.

 

He bows and blows kisses to everyone before stepping off the stage, trying his best not to crumble in front of all the people shaking his hands when he walks down the stairs. He goes back to sit at his table and doesn’t get the chance to think of anything to say before his dad hugs him, tighter than he ever has, and tells him how proud he is and how sorry he is for not being there for each step and how he’ll never miss any of them again.

 

They sat down and Harry is starting to think Louis has something to do with this because he and his dad are patting each other’s shoulders and laughing and he wonders how long he stayed on that stage for them to get along that quickly. Louis confirms it when he winks at Harry, squeezing his thigh under the table when his dad starts apologizing for everything in words rather than money.

 

“That was such a great night.” Louis sighs when he falls on the bed and kicks his shoes off his feet as if he’s been thinking about it the whole time.

 

“Thank you.” Harry is fixing him, hoping he’ll know what for because the night isn’t long enough to tell him. He nods and crosses his arms under his head, probably high fiving himself in his head.

 

Harry gets undressed slowly, replaying the night over and over, ranking it as the top moment of pride in his life. He’s taking forever to unbutton his shirt after carefully placing his blazer on a hanger, and he wouldn’t have realized if it wasn’t for the grumpy kitten laying on the bed.

 

“You’re so fucking slow.” Louis grunts and Harry would point out how at least he’s getting undressed before going to bed, when he gets another idea.

 

He slows down even more and smirks, stroking his torso as he continues to unbutton his shirt. He finally takes it off and puts it on the hanger with the blazer before looking straight into Louis’ eyes whilst unbuckling his belt.

 

“What are you doing now ?” Louis chuckles, licking his bottom lip, eyes never leaving Harry who’s got too much lust in his eyes.

 

“Nothing.” Harry says with his innocent voice but unzips his dress pants and starts palming himself over his boxers.

 

“You’re such a s-“

 

“Sweet guy ? Yeah I know.” Harry grins, making Louis laugh loud but not enough to lose focus on what Harry’s doing to himself.

 

“Can you be a sweet guy over here ?” Louis asks, patting his own crotch, and Harry pinches his lip with his index and thumb and just smiles like a child who’s getting what he wants.

 

He steps out of his Calvin Klein’s and climbs on the bed, from Louis’ feet to Louis’ waist. He’s completely naked while Louis’ completely dressed and that’s just inacceptable really. He unbuttons Louis’ baby blue shirt and he would have put on a show for him if he wasn’t too eager already.

 

Louis takes his shirt off and takes care of his pants and boxers himself once Harry is done massaging his crotch whilst kissing him, creating the obscene sound of their tongue sliding in sync.

 

Harry gently tucks his hair behind one ear before bending to suck on Louis’ cock, making it slick enough to get it somewhere other than his mouth without struggle. When he’s wet enough, he stands on his knees and carefully gets down on Louis’ erection, squinting his eyes a bit at first but pushing through it because he can take all of him, and he will, every inch of him.

 

Louis is just watching in awe as Harry sits on him, probably feeling every corner of that man with his cock. He runs his hands up and down Harry’s thighs as the latter adjusts himself and can’t resist jerking him off a bit because he’s just as hard as he is.

 

Harry takes his time to move, starting with small circles before grinding properly, moaning as he finds his rhythm. He’s resting his hands on Louis’ chest and lets his head fall down, his hair swinging as he rocks back and forth, swaying his hips and feeling every inch of Louis’ cock inside of him.

 

When he lifts himself up and down, Louis curses and holds onto his hips before grabbing his bum when he speeds up, and goes back to grinding on him. He can feel Louis’ fingers dig in his arse and it’s just the best excuse to go harder and hop up and own again, and again…and again. Harry’s just riding Louis like a champ and he thinks that may be his reward.

 

As soon as Harry starts breathing an ‘ _ouh_ ’ a bit too choked, Louis thrusts up, helping him out because he knows he’s just entered Heaven. He holds his hips hard enough and must be thanking those few gym sessions he got just to watch Harry work out, because his core is definitely not useless right now.

 

“ _Ouh_ …Mmmh…” Harry whispers every time Louis thrusts up, letting his mouth form an obscene ‘o’, plump lips with the shade of Louis’ tip and glorious hair - because he’s still not real after all this time.

 

At this point, Harry’s hands settle on each side of Louis’ head and his hair’s brushing against Louis’ face so he flips it back with a hand, but that’s the exact time Louis chose to hit his prostate so he just screams with his head up, a deafening “ANWWH” that makes Louis space out for a second.

 

Harry knows the kind of pleasure Louis can give him. He’s found that every way possible, but it’s always better and stronger and more intense, and he doesn’t know how he does it, but every time he has this man come inside of him – or on him – he just reaches a higher cloud.

 

Louis can’t gather enough strength through his orgasm so Harry rides him through it and is glad Louis was taking care of him because he has no energy left to even breathe.

 

He collapses on the side and they both repeat a few ‘fuck’ and ‘can’t move’ as they even their breaths and come back in touch with reality.

 

Louis goes to take a wet cloth and clean them a bit and stretches an arm to pull Harry onto his side when he lays back down. They stay like this for a long while, just enjoying their hot skin against each other.

 

When Harry looks up to see if Louis’ asleep, he looks down and smiles softly, giving him a simple kiss before bringing his hand to his heart. Harry stays silent, brushing his fingers against Louis’ skin, tracing random patterns on his chest.

 

“You’re welcome. For your dad I mean. Just because he wasn’t a great husband, doesn’t mean he can’t a great father.” Louis says before kissing Harry’s head.

 

“Promise me we’ll be good dads.” Harry says, stopping his fingers to look at Louis again.

 

“Baby, I’m not sure what it means to be a dad, but I can swear I’ll be the best of them with our children.”

 

Harry doesn’t know if the feeling in his chest is from the way Louis his playing with his hair, or how sincere he sounds or maybe because he just stated that he sees a future with children.

 

He’s looking at him with the biggest smile and Louis must hear his thoughts because he scrunches his nose as if to say “yes I did just say that” and Harry would spend all night trying to make babies if they could.

 

They end up discussing what their baby would look like if they could conceive one, how they’d name them, how many they want, in which school they’d put them in, which sports and instruments they’d like to try…And soon enough, Harry’s just too eager to become a dad already.

 

He’s always wanted kids. He’s been obsessed with babies for as long as he can think of and he always found an excuse to babysit his friends and cousin’s kids, wishing he could have one on his own one day.

 

The thing is, he knows Louis loves children as well. He’s seen him around babies, seen the way he treats his younger siblings, sees the way he loves them and how gentle and careful he is with them. He knows he wants children of his own too. And it’s the reason why he doesn’t think twice when he spits the words.

 

“Let’s have a baby.” He’s never spoken that fast and had to squint his eyes to say anything.

 

“What ? I mean…” Louis is a bit bewildered but he looks more surprised by the timing than the idea.

 

“We have a big enough house and enough rooms, and we both have a good job and enough money for more than two people, and I love you and-“ Harry is rambling, trying to prove they can do this.

 

“Okay.” Louis interrupts him.

 

“Really ?” Harry asks with a low voice, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

 

“I’d fucking love to.”

 

“Oh my god ! Louis ! We’re having a baby !” Harry is suddenly wide awake and jumping on the bed like an excited five year old and lands on Louis who’s giggling so much he’s turned red.

 

They fall asleep with this dream: the idea of waking up with their abundance of love blended in one person.

 

 

 

 

“Louuuueeehhhhh !” Harry yells in the house, having no idea where his man is hiding.

 

“Oi oiiiiii !” Louis yells back to give his location and Harry runs to the voice as fast as he can.

 

“I got them ! I got them !” Harry trips over Louis’ pile of shoes when he enters the bedroom, mumbling how it always happens, and waves a letter in Louis’ face.

 

“You’re joking.” Louis says with a serious tone, unable to believe it after months and months of trying to get a positive answer from all the orphanage they’ve contacted in the city. They figured they might as well adopt and home a child in need of love instead of paying for a surrogate who could turn out to be a crook. “Open it Open it !”

 

“Mr Styles, Mr Tomlinson, despite the…” Harry starts reading out loud but then reads in his head at the sight of those words. He rips the letter and throws it in the desk bin before crashing on the bed, face in his hands.

 

He can’t help crying. It’s the only thing he can do. He’s tried every centre and they all reject their application because they’re either not quick enough or just not enough. They’ve been shut down by a few for the fact that they’re a same sex couple and other times because they had to share the child with the biological family.

 

“It’s okay baby. We’ll get lucky soon.” Louis tries to comfort him, caressing his tummy to soothe the pain he’s feeling right now. Harry knows he feels it too because he’s never this quiet and he’s been distracted a lot lately, but he knows if he shows he’s not taking it well, there’s no way Harry will keep his head up.

 

“And I have to leave for Accra next week for the opening of the second shelter so I won’t even be home to keep searching.” Harry sobs, trying hard not to list everything against them.

 

There’s a brief silence and Louis just stops rubbing his him and everything’s just getting worse.

 

“Why did you stop rubbing my belly ?” Harry whines with a pout.

 

“Why don’t we just look for one in your centre ?”

 

“What ?”

 

“You’ve created a charity centre for orphans all around Ghana Harry. I’m pretty sure there’s at least one child in need of a home.” Louis sounds excited, and Harry thinks he could burst.

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“I could just go with you next week and we’ll figure things out there ?” Louis straddles Harry’s lap and takes Harry’s face in his hands to provoke a reaction. “Hazza…We’re going to be dads !”

 

Harry straightens his back and pulls Louis with him on the bed and makes sure there’s not a bit of skin left without a kiss.

 

 

*******

 

 

“I’m telling you, we’ve got the best seats.” Louis assures, raising a brow proudly to everyone who looks at them, as if to say “yes we got the best seats, deal with it”.

 

“I’m just so excited to see him. I’ve never been in such a fancy theatre.” Harry whispers, not wanting the whole section to know he’s a theatre virgin.

 

“You’ll love it. And he’s been sending me videos of rehearsals so I’m more excited than- oh shh shh it’s starting.” Louis quickly ends their conversation as the lights go off and a silence spreads.

 

A voice starts to speak and they immediately sink into the show, letting the introductory music immerse them into the performance.

 

As soon as they spot him, Louis just squeaks into Harry’s hand and is definitely controlling himself not to cry. Here, on the stage, is his former student, who couldn’t tell his parents he didn’t like football and wanted to be an actor. He’s saying his lines effortlessly and taking the stage like a natural.

 

The play is splendid and touching and ends with Louis munching on Harry’s fingers. They sit for a few seconds before standing up and applauding as hard as they can.

 

“Harry ! Mr Tomlinson !” Connor runs from backstage and jumps into their arms.

 

“You were incredible Connor !” Louis compliments him, not sure how to put it into words.

 

“You were born to do this ! Legend !” Harry hugs him again. Louis and Connor discuss details Harry knows nothing about, but they’re interrupted by another member of the company.

 

“Oh wait !” Connor calls the rather tall man when he senses he’s interrupted them. “It’s Louis Tomlinson !”

 

“Oh wow, I’ve heard so much about you ! And you must be Harry ?” The man asks, shaking their hands while they’re both wondering who they’re being introduced to.

 

“Yes ! And you-“

 

“That’s Tom…my boyfriend.” Connor says and the smiles he has is the one smile Harry had wished he’d see one day on his face.

 

“Happy to meet you Tom !” Louis beams, remembering the day Harry had told him about his secret conversation when Connor came out to him and announced his parents he wanted to continue with drama after high school in a parents-teacher meeting.

 

“This wouldn’t have been possible without you Mr T, or you Harry. Thank you so much…for everything.”

 

Harry and Louis hugs him one last time before walking hand in hand out of the theatre in silence, with no need to say out loud what they’re both thinking.

 

“You’re definitely going to be a great dad.” Louis whispers when they kiss in front of their car.

 

“You too.”

 

 

 

*******

 

 

“Fuck it’s hot !” Are Louis’ first words when landing in Africa.

 

He‘s melting and his fringe is stuck to his forehead. He’s in loose grey shorts, a white tank top, and only halfway in his Vans, but he’s still too hot to remember why he’s in an oven.

 

“Welcome !” Harry says excitedly, jumping happily as he walks down the plane’s stairs with a lavender tank top, denim shorts and flip flops, hair tied in a high bun.

 

They hop in a Jeep and make their way to the children centre, holding hands to reassure each other for what’s about to happen if everything goes well.

 

They only brought a backpack each so they’re able to greet all the kids running to them, the oldest hugging Harry and calling his name, already telling him about all that’s happened since the last time he visited. Louis is looking at him interact with them and Harry takes his smile as an “I think I love you even more” kind of grin.

 

They settle quickly in one of the empty rooms in the shelter and come back down to see a set up table in the huge canteen. There’re signs everywhere with ‘welcome’ written on them in every colour and random doodles all over them, letting them know the children did it.

 

Louis sits down on one of the benches, joined by a few children tugging at his arms and bursting with joy. Harry sits in front of him and looks at how overwhelmed Louis must be. He’s surrounded by the happiest kids with the toughest lives and he’s just making sure he gives every single one the attention they deserve, even when he has no clue what they’re talking about.

 

They eat a wonderful meal and he lets the boy on his left eat half of it because the smile he has is one of the brightest and Harry knows for a fact that’s something he can’t resist.

 

They all gather in the garden when they’re done and Louis engages in a soccer match and is having the time of his life, laughing loud and carrying the kids to tickle them or using them as his shield when it backfires.

 

Harry’s watching him from afar, checking with the volunteers how the work part is going, how many children they’re still able to welcome, how much food they’ll need, how’s the health centre…

 

“We just got a new born this morning. Her father was shot during a confrontation and her mother died after giving birth. Her sister brought her because she can’t take care of one more child.” Laura, one of the volunteers, informs Harry.

 

“Where is she ?”

 

“Come.” Harry has to fight himself to get his eyes off Louis playing soccer, but eventually follows Laura and Janette to the nursery.

 

“She doesn’t have a name yet.” Janette whispers as she slides her arms under the small little girl in the cradle.

 

“Hello pretty girl..” Harry whispers with his baby voice and doesn’t hesitate to take her in his arms. “She’s so small…”

 

“I know…” Laura smiles, rubbing her belly with one finger.

 

“Look Harry…We don’t mean to sound alarming but, there’s not enough room for her. It’d be fine if she was older, but we can’t take care of infants.” Janette says, anxious to announce the news that Harry is thrilled to hear.

 

“It’s okay. I’ll take her.” Harry coos, rocking the baby and smiling way too much at this precious little human in his arms.

 

“Really ? But we thought you’d want a child that’s older…” Laura sounds too surprised and Harry’s starting to think they were as happy as he is right now to welcome a new member in his family.

 

“I want to help a child in need. She needs love and care. We have that. We have a lot of that.” Harry is still using his high pitched baby voice as if he’s saying it more to her than the volunteers.

 

He takes one of her tiny hands in his and rubs it gently when she opens it wraps it around his finger. He stops moving and widens his eyes as if he’s about to collapse.

 

“There you are !” Louis calls from behind but Harry is still in shock and can’t risk moving to make the baby unwrap her fingers.

 

“And who is this beauty ?” Louis says with the sweetest voice Harry’s ever heard and it’s just too much for him.

 

“She doesn’t have a name yet…” Harry comes back to the moment and lifts her little hand wrapped around his finger to show Louis. “Can we take her home ?”

 

“What ?” Louis looks at everyone, checking if Harry’s serious or not, if it’s possible or not, if, for the first time in months, he can actually consider having one more person to give love to without a fear of rejection.

 

“She chose me Louis. We don’t have a choice.” Harry states, wiggling his wrapped finger as proof.

 

“Oh my god…Can I take her ?” Louis asks, hands folded on his chest in awe. Harry looks like he’ll turn into ashes if he lets go, but he makes sure Louis has his arms right under his before transferring the new born and see a face he’s never seen before.

 

“Hellooo” Louis sings, swaying her gently and kissing her moving hand. He touches her cheek carefully, as if he’d break her if he went too harsh. He looks back at Harry and the latter doesn’t need words to know what he’s saying.

 

Louis is not asking if they can do it, he’s not asking if they’re ready and he’s not asking if Harry is sure about this. He’s telling Harry that they’re going to do it, that he’s glad they’re ready and that he’s as sure about this as Harry is. This look doesn’t mean “are you ready to love her ?”, it means “we’re going to love her so much”, and that’s all Harry needed to break into happy tears and hug the man he loves and their baby.

 

 

They stay there for about a month, waiting for the right time to fly back with the baby.

 

In the meantime, they spend the day with the children, and already spoiling Amara.

 

A little girl had been telling Louis the bedtime stories she loved while they were sitting on the swinging couch outside, the still-yet-to-name baby in his arms. She told her fairy tales and adventures of local heroes and Louis was glad because she was an amazing kid. She was smart and funny and so happy despite everything she had been through.

 

Her dad had been killed when authorities broke into her house for a reason she still doesn’t know, her mom was kept captive before being executed and she doesn’t know where her five other siblings ended up. At thirteen years old, she was the bravest little girl Louis had ever encountered. Her name was Amara.

 

“What are you gonna call her ?” She asked.

 

“We don’t know yet. I was thinking Zoe but Harry likes Darcy.”

 

“What does it mean ?”

 

“What ?” Louis frowned.

 

“Well, you usually pick the name for the meaning, no ?” Amara looked puzzled, as if choosing a name without signification is absurd.

 

“I didn’t think about that…What does your name mean ?”

 

“Elegance and grace !” She proudly says and giggles, just like she always does.

 

Louis looks at her and all he sees is in fact elegance and grace. She hasn’t had it easy and she doesn’t know what we’ll happen next, but she stays positive and gracefully takes whatever life throws at her.

 

That’s what Louis tells Harry when he suggests the name while he’s lulling her to sleep.

 

“Amara.” Harry repeats to himself. “Amara !” He calls her and he could swear she’s smiling at the name. And just like she chose her parents, she had just chosen her name.

 

 

 

*******

 

 

 

“Come on ! That’s shi-shameful !” Louis is shouting, trying hard to remember this is a soccer game for twelve year old girls.

 

“Okay, so let’s go over it one last time…” Harry is squatting behind Amara, adjusting her ponytail.

 

“Don’t get too close to the other girls, don’t fight if someone attacks you, and whatever happens, spread love.” Amara rolls her eyes as she repeats Harry’s credo.

 

He kisses her forehead before standing back up, already stressed out to hear her name called, letting her join Louis closer to the pitch.

 

“Okay, so let’s go over it one last time…” Louis looks straight into his daughter’s eyes, waiting for her to shout the rules.

 

“Knock them down.” Amara says fiercely.

 

“That’s my girl. Now go !” Louis lets her run to join her teammates and shrugs when Harry gives him a disapproving look, knowing he told her the opposite of what he had.

 

They’re standing aside the pitch like the other parents, but they’re the only one cheering that loud. Harry’s voice is louder than everyone else’s and Louis makes sure all he knows about soccer is inked in Amara’s mind.

 

Harry is squinting every time someone touches her and Louis tries his best not to curse at those girls to not get kicked out of the game…again.

 

Amara is running to the goal like a pro, passing the ball with expertise and catching it so well Louis is on the verge of crying from pride. She tackles a few girls but always stays on the clear and when she shoots the winning goal, Harry and Louis hug each other like winners and run to her, carrying her over their shoulders as she celebrates her team’s victory.

 

A lot has happened since they adopted this beautiful champion.

 

They moved into a more children friendly house, not too far from the school with the best soccer team; Harry’s hired young people in seek of jobs to work at the frozen yogurt shop so he can focus on managing his charities; Louis has set up the most attended play in Los Angeles and of course took Connor under his arm, making him the lead role and attracting an international audience. He still teaches at Santa Monica High School because he loves his job, but it’s a plus to have his own play performed on a big stage.

 

They’ve raised Amara to be the confident, kind and loving girl she is today, doing whatever she’s passionate about with their support. Except dating. Harry and Louis agreed she wouldn’t be allowed to date before marriage…

 

They also got married when she turned three and the only concern everyone had was why the hell they weren’t already married.

 

The thing was, neither of them was sure how to propose. Or who would.

 

Harry had been thinking about it the day he had kissed Louis, but he had been patient since then so he had sort of gotten the habit of waiting for the right time.

 

Louis was no different. He wanted to make it special, to make it perfect, so he didn’t dare asking, not if something wasn’t right with the setting.

 

The way it happened was therefore the most unexpected turn of event for the both of them.

 

They were cleaning up the shop one night when Louis placed on the counter a cake they had to return somewhere. Harry joined him right after and the both of them just sort of eyed the cake, curious to know what it was, since it had been delivered at the wrong place.

 

Harry scolded Louis, saying someone might have put efforts into this and they weren’t allowed to touch it. But Louis had never been one to listen, so he opened the box anyway and, as if fate wasn’t done playing with them yet, the pastry was a humongous chocolate fudge cake with enormous peanuts all over it, a red icing reading ‘marry me ?’.

 

They both looked at each other and giggled before looking more serious and suddenly shared the same thought.

 

Unable to handle the silence, Harry had dipped his finger into the cake and put the chocolate fudge on Louis’ nose with a smirk.

 

“I’d marry you Lou…” He grinned.

 

“And I’d marry you Harry.”

 

And somehow, it was even better than anything they could’ve planned. They were linking their life forever where and how it’d all begun, with chocolate fudge on Louis’ nose and big peanuts everywhere.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked this extra part !
> 
> Please do say what you thought or come talk to me about fics on twitter/tumblr, I'm always happy to :)
> 
> Twitter: chill_larrie  
> Tumblr: hegotadagger.tumblr.com


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